Image from Talkshoe.com

Would like to start you own Internet Radio Show but you are wondering where to start?  No problem, the website used most by the podcast shows I listen to, is Talkshoe.  You can set up your show for free, that’s right FREE!  Talkshoe even provides free classes for beginning podcasters.

In fact, the next Free Talkshoe Training Class for New and Prospective Hosts will take place Thursday, January 31st at 11 am to 1 pm Eastern Time (10:00 am CST, 8:00 am PST). There are many more classes scheduled throughout the year in case January 31st doesn’t work out for you.  You will learn the basics, through some of the more advanced options from the TalkShoe User Support Team.  It is great training for the newbies starting out.

This is a 2 hour class, and it is well worth the time.  In the past I have taken this class and found it to be extremely helpful.  To get more information and to register for this class please go to TalkShoe.com.

If you learn better with video tutorials, watch these TalkShoe Training Videos.  Talkshoe also offers paid one-on-one Trouble Shooting/Training Sessions by phone, at a rate of $4.95 for each 15 minute increment.  Good Luck on your new adventure!

My answer was, “No, Absolutely Not!” 

Why not you ask?  Because I just didn’t understand the benefits of Twitter for Business. 

I know that I’m not the only one out there trying to figure out why I should use Twitter for Business.  What possible difference could it make in my Business Strategy, if I decided not to use Twitter. 

Then I started to do some research.  The Business Insider’s March 31, 2011 Blog Post stated that “there are 56 million accounts on Twitter following 8 or more accounts”.   According to a Mashable article dated June 30, 2011, Twitter users send 200 Million Tweets per day.  Now just sit back and think about these figures.  That’s what I thought, you want to use Twitter in your Business Strategy too.

At this point, my friend patiently taught me how to use my Twitter account for Business effectively.  Here are 10 Basic Twitter Tips that I learned.

1) Twitter is a Social Network.  Keyword here is “Social”.  Do not spam your followers.   
  
2) Figure out who your Target Audience is.  Then tweet content that your Target Audience will find helpful, useful or will solve a problem.

3) Relax, be yourself, and have friendly conversations with other like minded individuals.

4) Tweet 4 to 7 times a day, Monday through Friday.  Make sure you are sharing great content and helping others.  Set up Google Alerts so you have a variety of Content delivered to your email account daily. 

5) Retweet other Twitter users tweets you find helpful, and reply to people that engage you in conversation.  Reply to the Direct Messages only if they are not automated messages generated as a result of you following someone. 

6) Always thank others for retweets and mentions.  On Friday add these people to your #FollowFriday #FF list.

7) Then start following other people.  If you don’t know who to follow, try searching the keywords that your target audience would look for.  Also review the people that your competition follows. 

8) Eventually you will grow your followers organically.  These people will find and follow you based on the content you tweet.  Review your followers and follow them back if they are active accounts.

9) Use Hootsuite or TweetDeck to help you manage your Twitter account.  Personally, I like using HootSuite. 

10)   Make sure that you sign up for a Klout account.  You can add your Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Last.fm, Flickr, Blogger, Instagram and FourSquare Accounts.  This will help you gage your Social Media Influence.  

Using Twitter for your Business will lead to your target audience getting to know, like and trust you.  Once people start getting to know, like and trust you, they will feel more comfortable working and doing business with you.  It will help you get your Brand or Name out there.  When you add a new Blog Post to your Website make sure to Tweet it! 

Set up your Twitter account today, be yourself and have some Fun!  What is your Favorite Twitter Tips?  Please leave a comment below.

Here are some tips for shipping your items Internationally.  The two most popular ways to ship overseas through the United States Postal Service (USPS) is by Priority Mail International or First Class Mail International.  If you ship by Priority Mail you can use the free Priority Mail boxes.  For First Class Mail International you will have to use your own box.

For light weight items it is cheaper to ship by First Class Mail International.  To calculate your shipping cost, go to the USPS website.  Click on Calculate Postage, then on the next page Click “Go” in the Calculate International Shipping Section.  The next page gives you a drop down menu where you can select the destination.  Choose package, then insert the weight of your package and click continue.  The next page will show your shipping cost. 

Please make sure that you check out the restrictions for each country you ship to.  You can find this information on the USPS page that shows you the shipping cost.  This link is located at the top of the chart and will state, “Price Charts and Information For ____” and it will include the name of the country you have chosen.

Read these restrictions carefully, because there are some countries where certain items cannot be shipped.  Or the item may need to be shipped by Registered Mail.  Remember, that this is your business, so you have to make sure that you follow all the Country Conditions for Mailing.

You can print your International Labels through PayPal, or you can use your own label and Fill out the Customs Declaration Forms that you can get from the USPS.  There are 2 Different Customs Declaration Forms, PS Form 2976 and the PS Form 2976-A, which will be inserted into the PS Form 2976-E Customs Form Envelope.

The PS Form 2976 is used for packages that weigh 4 pounds or less and this label can be folded over the side of the box if necessary.  However, the PS Form 2976-A cannot be folded over and must be used with the 2976-E Envelope on the front of the package in full view.

Please remember when you fill out the Forms that you check other, and not Gift.  Even if the Customer requests that you check Gift, do not do it.  This would be a violation of the Customs Laws and Regulations.  I hope this has been helpful.

By completing this process, you will always own your Business Domain Name.  Remember, even if you hire a Web Developer or start a website on one of the many free websites builders available online, buy your own Domain Name.  Never allow another individual to register your Business Domain Name for you. 

I bet you are wondering why it matters, and you may be thinking that it is easier to just let someone else do it for you.  This would be a huge mistake.  Many Business owners find this out when the time comes for them to dissolve their website at one of those free hosting websites.  Or they finally decide that the Web Developer they hired is not working out.

The Business Owner decides to move on, and wants to take their Domain name with them.  Up to this point, they think that they own their Business Website Domain Name.  This is when they find out that they were wrong.  In Fact, the Web Developer or the Free Website builder owns this domain name.  Why you ask, because they let someone else register the domain name for them.

Now that Business Owner has the monumental task of trying to get the Domain Name transferred to them.  First they have to find out who owns their Business Domain name and get that Company or Web Designer to start the process of transferring over the Domain name.  If they have a Web Developer, they have to do certain procedures to complete the domain name registration transfer process.  If they used a free Website builder, they may have to pay a fee to get the Business Domain Name transferred to them.

All I am saying, is make it easy on yourself.  Just buy and register your own Business Domain Name and save yourself the hassle.

I would advise all new business owners to get a Separate Business Bank Account before you sell your very first item or service. 

With this Bank Account, you can pay your Business Expenses, by writing a check or using your debit card.  Use your Business Checks or Debit Card to pay for postage, inventory items, office supplies, or monthly reoccurring bills.  This will keep track of your Business Expenses. 

Make sure that you use this Business Account to deposit all of your PayPal, Google Checkout, REM, Personal Checks, Money Orders, and Cash payments you receive for your items sold or services performed.  This will keep track of your Business Income.    

Once you get a $100.00 build up in your business checking account, transfer these funds to your Savings Account so you can earn some interest on your money.  You will find that having a separate Business Bank Account keeps your personal finances separate from the Business.  This will make it easier to keep track of your Business and help you file your Business Taxes at the end of the year.

The PayPal Monthly and Yearly Financial Reports are absolutely the best feature for me.  I truly believe that for most Online Sellers, these Financial Reports are one of the main advantages for using PayPal.  All of the accounting is done for you.  PayPal keeps track of the payments you receive, payment you send, postal fees, refunds, and transaction fees. 

You also have access to many Merchant Tools on PayPal.  You have the ability to send your buyer an invoice and you can cancel the invoice if necessary.  PayPal also allows you to add a BIN Button in your auctions.  PayPal can also be integrated into your own website if you choose to set up your own ecommerce internet store.

As I explained in my previous blog post, you can also use PayPal to print your shipping labels.  I go into more detail about this feature in my previous post entitled, “PayPal and USPS Click-N-Ship Online Postage Shipping Solutions”.  

I would strongly recommend that you set up a Premier or Business PayPal Account for your Ecommerce Home Based Business.

Increase your image search ranking by naming your pictures with good descriptive text.  When renaming your photo from img001.jpg, choose a detailed informative filename.  The picture of your favorite pet dog could be renamed pet-yellow-lab-dog.jpg.  The hyphens between the words represent spaces to Google.  This gives the search engine information about your picture.    

Also, remember that the search engines cannot read embedded text on your photos.  Therefore, when you want to give more detailed image information, use Alternate Text.  This attribute allows Google to understand what your picture represents.   Google’s image search will use this information to help return the best images for that user’s search query.  Here is a great example of Alternate Text:

<img src=” pet-yellow-lab-dog.jpg” alt=”My pet yellow lab is chasing his blue ball in the park”>

The Alt Text inside of the HTML Code should be a short, concise sentence.  Describe what the image represents as though the picture was not available to be viewed.  Please, do not use this Alt Text method to spam keywords.  This could have potentially negative results.  Your website may be perceived as spamming and lower your site’s ranking.  Also, Alternate Text is used by the visually impaired using screen readers and others who have dial up connections where the images cannot be displayed.

Finally, remember to insert the appropriate picture next to the relevant text it pertains to in your blog, website or product listing.  This will help the search engines to better understand the image, and improves your image search ranking.

Most Online Sellers are familiar with printing Shipping Labels through their PayPal Accounts.  PayPal allows you to print your Shipping Labels using USPS or UPS.

The USPS Postal Services that are available through PayPal are Priority, Express, First Class, Media Mail, and Parcel Post.  The shipping fees are taken out of your PayPal Balance.  Here is a Direct Link to the PayPal Login where you can print a Shipping Label.

You can also print your Priority Mail shipping labels from the USPS through their USPS Click-N-Ship Service.  Here are the step by step instructions.  Go to the Click-N-Ship Website, set up an account, and then fill in the information for your label.  You will have to use your credit card to pay for your shipping fee.

Just remember, that you can only Print Priority Mail shipping labels through Click-N-Ship.  If you need Technical Support, they can be reached at 800-344-7779 option 3.

There are many different sites to choose from.  It is up to the Seller to decide which Site is going to work out best for them.  Try to remember that every site cannot fulfill each and every seller’s requirements. 

Go to Bing, Google or Yahoo, and start researching the different selling venues.  You can also go to the Online Auction Sites Top Ten Reviews and check out the 10 listed sites.  Thoroughly research each and every site you are interested in.

Here are some Basic Guidelines that sellers may want to use when choosing an Online Selling Venue.

First and foremost, I would find out what the fees were for each site.  This would include the membership, insertion, and final value fees. 

Next, see how easy the site is to use, for both the Seller and Buyer.  How easy is it to list an item, and is the checkout system set up for a quick purchase for the buyer. 

Take your time and read the Policy Statement, Terms of Use, and Privacy Statement.  When you click on “Agree”, you must comply with these policies.  This will be your legally binding contract with that Selling Venue. 

Determine which sites have active online auctions and which ones have fixed price item listings.  There are a few Selling Venues that have both.  You may find out that most sites are fixed price only.  Some sites, such as Bonanzle, are fixed price but allow the buyer to make an offer for less that the asking price. 

It is very important to find out which sites feed their item listings into Google or Oodle automatically for the seller.  If they do not, you are responsible for feeding your listings into the Google Merchant Center or Oodle yourself.

Always check out the completed list of items sold.  This will show you what is selling, and for what price. 

Determine if the site is selling the items you carry in your inventory.  If there are hundreds of listings in your particular field, you should look for a different site to sell on that does not have as much competition.  Unless, you can sell your items for less money than the competition and still make a profit.

The savviest sellers never forget to check out each site’s Chat Forums.  This will help give you an idea of what the Online Site is all about.  If the Chat Rooms are upbeat, and the members are being helpful to one another, you have a winner. 

I would read through the current Chat Forum posts.  Then I would go back through the olds posts for about a 1 month period.  This should give you a very good representation of what the atmosphere is like at that particular site.

Finally, I would suggest that you to talk to other Sellers and Buyers that you know.  Ask them which Online Selling Venue they use and what their opinion is of these different sites.   

Then you just have to take a leap of faith and register with the online site or sites that you believe will fulfill your needs.  Now, jump in with both feet, and start listing all of your items for sale.

When you go to Tweet Chat, just add the hash tag for the conversation that you would like to follow. You can just follow the thread to see if it is a conversation that you would like to join. When you decide to join the twitter conversation, all you have to do is login with your twitter ID and password. Then just start tweeting as you would normally do, and the hash tag is automatically added to your tweets.

Once you are logged in you will see a tool bar where you can pause the twitter stream, set the refresh speed, add user controls, toggle the font and share the link. This is a great tool to use for Gatherings, Webinars and Conferences.